Yokley, John M.;

Ball and plug dropping head

There is disclosed a ball and plug dropping head which includes a housing having an inlet at its upper end and an outlet at its lower end, and passages extending downwardly within the housing at circumferentially spaced locations, each to receive a ball or plug. A lateral opening connects the inlet with each passage beneath a removable plug closing the upper end of each passage, and valves are mounted in the housing each to close the passage beneath the lateral opening and thus beneath a ball on plug in the passage.

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What is claimed is:

1. A ball and plug dropping head for use in sequentially dropping one or more balls and plugs into a liner of a liner hanger system, comprising:

a housing having an inlet at its upper end adapted to be fluidly connected in line with the lower end of a top drive, an outlet generally aligned with the inlet and adapted to be connected to the upper end of a running tool, and passages extending downwardly within the housing at circumferentially spaced locations,

each passage having an upper end to the side of the upper end of the inlet and a lower end connecting with the outlet,

lateral openings in the housing each connecting the inlet with a passage,

a closure member removably mounted in the upper end of each passage to permit a ball or plug to be installed therein, and

valves mounted in the housing each for opening and closing a passage beneath the lateral opening connecting thereto so as to support ball or plug when closed and permit the ball or plug to pass therethrough, and circulating fluid to pass downwardly therethrough when neither a ball nor plug is in the passage.

2. As in claim 1, wherein each valve is removably mounted in a side opening in the housing to permit it to be installed and removed from outside of the housing.